Preserving Resources

Open access means not just that you can have access to things today, but also into the future. We can envision preservation services that will support repository operations within a network. Not every repository needs to run its own preservation processing stack, but rather we need common standards, protocols and interoperability that will enable us to build these services for repositories in a collective way. Additionally it is necessary to preserve the complex interconnection of resources, which involves preservation activities at various levels including the resource, metadata and information graph. Furthermore, through enhanced clients and embedding new technology in information creation and communication platforms, capture and preserve content creation in real-time. Repositories should try obtaining the most reusable format (e.g. latex, TEI rather than a PDF) by validating how manuscripts were created, such as it is currently done by arXiv.org (DDI instead of SPSS or XLSX) and encouraging the deposition of that format.

Digital preservation is the active management of digital content over time to ensure ongoing access to resources. Preservation is an extremely complex activity, involving the adoption of appropriate policies, standards, practices, and technologies. Given that there are already dedicated communities focused on defining best practices and technologies for digital preservation, the Working Group did not addressed the specific technologies in this behaviour in a comprehensive way, but rather focussed on the ability of repositories to transfer full text content from repositories to preservation platforms. The technologies to support this behaviour are already described in behaviour Resource Transfer.

User stories related to this behaviour

As a scholar or institution, I want my research outputs to be available over the long term and remain as a permanent part of the scholarly record.

I also want to know that my article will be recoverable in the event a repository loses its copy of my work. I may also be interested in searching archival holding.